Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Pargev Srbazan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese visit Gandzasar monastery

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
April 3 2021

Pontifical Legate with special commitments Pargev Srbazan Martirosyan along with Primate of the Artsakh Diocese Vrtanes Archbishop Abrahamyan visited on Saturday Gandzasar monastery complex in Artsakh, where they attended the Holy Saturday Service at St. Hovhannes Mkrtich church. 

As the Facebook page of Pargev Srbazan reported, the clergymen offered prayers for the salvation of the souls of Armenians killed in the war, inviolability of Artsakh and Armenia as well as for the swift return of all captives to Homeland.

 

Armenia army chief, commander of Russian peacekeepers in NK discuss issues of ensuring security

Eduard Nalbandian

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 12:39, 1 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS. Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Lt. General Artak Davtyan held a meeting with Lt. General Rustam Muradov, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh.

“Issues of ensuring security and organizing partnership were discussed during the meeting, the importance of ensuring the return of Armenian PoWs and the search operations for those missing was emphasized. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces thanked Lt. General Rustam Muradov for the effective work and efforts of the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” the defense ministry said in a news release.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Deputy head of Armenia’s Investigative Committee gets new post at NSS after 5 days in office

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, March 31, signed an order to dismiss Andranik Simonyan as Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee. Simonyan had been appointed to the post on March 26.

Some media reports suggested Simonyan would soon get a new post at the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

Shortly after Pashinyan’s decision, a decree was published on the official website of the Armenian president on the appointment of Andranik Simonyan Deputy Director of the National Security Service.

Under a similar scenario, Argishti Kyaramyan, who currently serves as a deputy head of the Investigative Committee, became the National Security Service chief.

On 4 May 2020, Kyaramyan was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee, assuming the post of the NSS Deputy Director on May 5. He was named as Director of the National Security Service on June 8 last year. 

COVID-19: Armenian CDC reports 750 new cases

Eduard Nalbandian

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 11:00,

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 750 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total cumulative number of confirmed cases to 191,491.

4658 tests were performed over the past day.

509 people recovered from the disease, raising the total number of recoveries to 172,605.

21 people died, bringing the death toll to 3497. This number doesn’t include the deaths of 890 other individuals (8 in the last 24 hours) infected with the virus, who according to authorities died from other pre-existing illnesses.

As of 11:00, March 30 the number of active cases stood at 14,499.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian PM says army should remain politically neutral

Eduard Nalbandian
TASS, Russia
On Monday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Davtyan had assumed the office of Chief of General Staff because the president who refused to sign the appointment decree also did not challenge the decision in the Constitutional Court

YEREVAN, March 22. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has presented the new Chief of General Staff, Artak Davtyan, to the top military brass of the country, underlining that the army should remain politically neutral, the Armenian government press service reported.

"I should ask, and we should agree that we should maintain the sacred principle of depoliticizing of the armed forces, the principle of political indifference in the future. The principle is not needed by me or a specific person or a group, it is an important principle that is primarily needed by the armed forces," he said. Pashinyan noted that the General Staff statement issued on February 25 with a demand for his resignation "is understandable on many parameters."

On Monday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Davtyan had assumed the office of Chief of General Staff because the president who refused to sign the appointment decree also did not challenge the decision in the Constitutional Court.

A political crisis broke out in Armenia after the head of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan and other top military brass had demanded the resignation of the prime minister and the government on February 25. Pashinyan slammed the demand as a coup attempt and announced his decision to dismiss Gasparyan.

On March 10, the prime minister said that Gasparyan had been relieved from his post after the decree to sack him was not signed by the president in time and was not challenged by him in the Constitutional Court either. Pashinyan then nominated Davtyan to succeed the top military brass. Gasparyan himself slammed the decree as unconstitutional and decided to appeal it in an administrative court.

In turn, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian submitted the law on military service and the status of a service member, which determines the procedure for appointment and resignation of a chief of the General Staff, to the court for review and did not sign the decree on Davtyan’s appointment. Davtyan already headed the General Staff between 2018 and 2020 and was removed by Pashinyan. Gasparyan then succeeded him at the prime minister’s initiative.

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 22-03-21

Eduard Nalbandian

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 17:31,

YEREVAN, 22 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 22 March, USD exchange rate down by 0.11 drams to 527.76 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.18 drams to 627.98 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.03 drams to 7.09 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.48 drams to 731.32 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 151.70 drams to 29442.66 drams. Silver price up by 0.67 drams to 444.13 drams. Platinum price down by 733.92 drams to 19903.32 drams.

Kocharyan: Reputation of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund seriously damaged due to government’s actions

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan on Monday took part in a remote meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund.

“A topic of discussion was the issue of reporting 52 billion drams transferred by the All-Armenian Fund to the Armenian government during the war in Artsakh. The impressions of the discussion are disappointing. The prime minister unambiguously stated that 52 billion drams were contributed to the budget and spent with the general budget expenditures, making it impossible to specify what exactly the charitable funds were spent on,” Kocharyan wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

The ex-president said according to the agreement between the government and the fund, the government is obliged to provide reports on the funds received. The funds were supposed to be sent to a special account of the government, specifically created for this purpose, and spent from this account on urgent needs dictated by the situation caused by the recent Artsakh war, excluding the possibility of the issue on reporting, Kocharyan noted.

“I am not aware whether this was done intentionally or through negligence, but in fact, the reputation of the All-Armenian Fund is seriously damaged precisely because of the government's actions.

“The prime minister's verbal assurances on the expenditures do not inspire any confidence. I cannot believe the assurances of the government, who deceived its own people about the real situation throughout the entire war, and continues to hide the number of deaths, missing people and prisoners of war even 4 months after the war.

“I do not understand the statement made on behalf of the Board of Trustees in this context. How can one be confident in advance of the fund's targeted spending in the absence of all supporting documents? Given the setting, it is obvious that no audit will clarify the situation, but will only enhance the existing doubts. The only correct solution I see is to consider 52 billion drams as a government debt to the fund to be returned within 3-5 years. The All-Armenian Fund, in turn, should spend these funds on numerous programs to cover the needs in Artsakh,” the former president added. 

VoA: Armenia’s President Said to Be Back at Work After Report of COVID-19 Complications

Eduard Nalbandian
Voice of America
March 12 2021

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian was diagnosed with coronavirus in January and was briefly hospitalized in London.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian returned to work after undergoing a medical exam, his press office said Friday, following reports that was admitted to a hospital because of COVID-19 complications.

Sarkissian was diagnosed with coronavirus in January and was briefly hospitalized in London.

Russian news agencies cited local media reports Friday, saying Sarkissian was undergoing treatment for heart problems as well as COVID-19. 

However, the president’s press office said Sarkissian underwent an examination at Astghik Medical Center, then went back to his usual work. 

It was reported on Jan. 5 that Sarkissian showed symptoms of coronavirus when he underwent leg surgery. The reported symptoms included high fever and double pneumonia.

Modern CLEAN ROOM in the Alikhanyan National Lab (Former Physics Institute)

Eduard Nalbandian
Յարգելի հայրենակիցներ եւ բարեկամներ, 
Dear Friends and Compatriots,


Thank you for your participation in the ARPA Institute events, if you have attended any. If not, please attend our future events.
The ARPA Institute has initiated a project of establishing a modern CLEAN ROOM in the Alikhanyan National Lab (Former Physics Institute), the first of its kind in Armenia. We would like to ask you to please donate to help in the implementation of this highly important endeavor. The clean room is necessary for highly sensitive experimentation.
We are also doing a fundraiser to provide assistance to young scientists in Armenia, as well as to institutions and universities. If you could donate to the ARPA Institute, we will appreciate it. You can send your check made to the ARPA Institute to the ARPA Treasurer:
Dr. Sargis Sedrakyan

C/O ARPA Institute
1030 Winchester Ave., #209 
Glandale, CA 91201

Or you can donate on-line. Here is the link: 

http://arpainstitute.org/donation/

Thank you,

ARPA Institute Board

Armenia’s Ombudsman – Azerbaijani armed forces open fire in direct neighborhood of peaceful settlements of Armenian Syunik

Eduard Nalbandian
Aysor, Armenia
March 5 2021

Azerbaijani armed forces keep opening fire in the direct neighborhood of peaceful communities of Armenia’s Syunik province, Armenia’s Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan said at a press conference today.

“The recent inquiries by the staff of the Human Rights Defender’s Office show that recently Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire in the neighborhood of the communities of Nerkin Hand, Agarak, Yeghvard and others,” Tatoyan stressed.